Logistics & export
Freight at cost · consolidation handling from $200 / shipment file
Sea, air, rail or express: we move your goods on real carrier quotes passed on at cost, with our handling as one visible line from $200 per shipment file, export clearance under our own licence, and every cost on one final Proforma. Consolidation from several factories, 14 days of free storage, DDP quoted per shipment.
Departures
Departures from all of China
We are based in Guangdong and source nationwide, so your shipment leaves from the gateway best placed for your factory and your destination: Shenzhen Yantian, Guangzhou Nansha, Ningbo, Shanghai, Qingdao or Tianjin by sea, or the nearest airport by air. The route, the carrier and the schedule are confirmed on your verified logistics quote.
Frequent destinations include Rotterdam, Hamburg, Antwerp, Felixstowe, Piraeus, Jebel Ali, Jeddah, Singapore, Los Angeles and New York.
Pricing model
Freight at cost. Handling as one visible line.
Two numbers, side by side, on every quote: what the carrier charges and what we charge. We request quotes from carriers for your route and cargo, sea LCL or FCL, air, rail or express, and pass them on at cost; our work is one disclosed handling line. The sequence is estimate, verified logistics quote, then final Proforma before we book.
Real carrier quotes
We request quotes from carriers for your route and cargo — sea LCL or FCL, air, rail or express — and pass the chosen one through at the carrier's price.
One disclosed handling line
Our work is a separate, visible line on your quote. You read the freight and our fee side by side.
Only the Proforma is final
Estimate → verified logistics quote → final Proforma Invoice, settled before we book the carrier. What you sign is what you pay.
Full service
A specialist's service range — from China
Beyond freight, NovaLink covers the work that actually moves a shipment: export clearance under our own licence, multi-supplier consolidation, cargo insurance, dangerous goods, pre-shipment quality control and delivery to your door. Destination clearance and final delivery run through vetted partners, and we say so on the quote rather than claiming them as our own.
Export customs clearance
We file your China export declaration under our own export licence — one exporter of record for the whole shipment.
Multi-supplier consolidation
Orders from several factories collected at the partner consolidation warehouse and shipped as one container, one document set. Handling from $200 per consolidated shipment file.
Cargo insurance
All-risk marine or air cargo cover arranged through an insurer for your shipment — a loss at sea is covered, not absorbed. We arrange it; the underwriter carries the risk.
DDP & door delivery
Delivered Duty Paid: we coordinate destination duties, taxes and final delivery to your door through vetted local partners — quoted as one fixed total on your Proforma.
Dangerous goods
IMDG (sea) and IATA-DGR (air) cargo coordinated through specialist partners — classification, declarations and carrier acceptance for regulated cargo.
Pre-shipment quality control
Our inspection team checks the goods before they load — your checklist, your standards — so problems are caught in China, not at your door. (NovaLink Quality Control.)
Origin pickup & warehousing
Factory pickup across China and short-term warehousing at the partner facility while your orders arrive — 14 days free, the staging ground for consolidation.
Import clearance at destination and final-mile delivery are performed by vetted local partners under your incoterm — never claimed as our own assets. Export-side clearance, consolidation and origin handling are ours.
Shipping modes
Five ways to move your cargo
Five ways to move your cargo, with typical ranges confirmed per shipment: sea LCL, about 35 to 50 days Asia to Northern Europe, billed per CBM; sea FCL, 32 to 45 days, flat per container; air, 3 to 7 days, per chargeable kilo; rail China to Europe, 18 to 25 days; express, 3 to 5 days door to door.
| Mode | Typical transit | Cost logic | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sea LCL | 35–50 days (Asia–N. Europe) | Per CBM — you pay for the space you use | Under ~15 CBM and your dates are flexible |
| Sea FCL | 32–45 days (Asia–N. Europe) | Flat rate per container (20ft / 40ft) | From ~15 CBM, or when you want your goods sealed and traveling alone |
| Air | 3–7 days (2–4 airport-to-airport) | Per chargeable kg (actual vs volumetric weight) | Urgent orders and high value-to-weight cargo |
| Rail | 18–25 days (China–Europe) | Per container or CBM — between sea and air | Europe-bound: faster than sea, costs less than air |
| Express | 3–5 days door-to-door | Per kg, all-inclusive to the door | Samples and small parcels, typically under 100 kg |
Transit times are typical ranges, confirmed per shipment — they depend on carrier, season and routing. Asia–Europe figures reflect current Red Sea diversions (Cape of Good Hope routing); LCL runs a few days longer than FCL for CFS consolidation. When your volume sits near the LCL/FCL line, your quote shows both options.
Estimate
Estimate your shipment
Enter your volume and weight, pick a mode — see the right option, the chargeable basis and a typical transit. Indicative only; your exact figure is confirmed on your Proforma.
Mode
Recommended
Sea LCL — billed on 12 revenue tons (W/M)
Revenue ton (W/M) = the greater of 12 CBM and 1.5 t; LCL bills the larger. Minimum 1 ton.
- Typical transit
- 35–50 days (Asia–N. Europe)
- Cost basis
- Per CBM — you pay for the space you use
- NovaLink handling
- from $200 / shipment file
- Freight
- Carrier quote, at cost
Indicative guidance from your inputs — not a quote. Transit, rates and the LCL/FCL line are confirmed per shipment on your Proforma.
Incoterms
Who pays for what, in five bars
Every shipment has five segments: factory, export port, main carriage, import port and door. The bars show who pays each segment under the five terms we quote, EXW, FOB, CIF, DAP and DDP, and where risk transfers, so two quotes are compared on the same basis before you sign anything.
Ex Works. The goods are made available at the factory gate. Pickup, export clearance and every step after are on your side.
Export clearance: You · Import duties: You
Free On Board. We handle trucking, export clearance and loading. From the moment the goods are on the vessel, the journey is yours.
Strictly, FCA (Free Carrier) is the precise term for containerized cargo — risk passes when the goods are handed to the carrier, not at the ship's rail. We quote FOB China as the market convention; tell us if you need FCA.
Export clearance: NovaLink side · Import duties: You
Cost, Insurance and Freight. We pay the freight and insure the goods all the way to your port of arrival.
The CIF subtlety: costs run to your port, but risk transfers when the goods are loaded in China. That is exactly what the included insurance is for.
Export clearance: NovaLink side · Import duties: You
Delivered At Place. We carry the goods to your door. You pay import duties and taxes when the shipment enters your country.
Export clearance: NovaLink side · Import duties: You
Delivered Duty Paid. Door delivery with duties and taxes included in one fixed all-in total on your Proforma — what you sign is what you pay.
Export clearance: NovaLink side · Import duties: NovaLink side
These bars are the map. To compare the five terms on your own shipment — with your figures — use the live visualizer in the logistics order path.
Consolidation
Three suppliers. One container. One set of documents.
Buying from three factories does not mean paying for three shipments. We collect every order under our own export licence and ship them as one file: handling from $200 per consolidated shipment file, freight quoted separately at cost, 14 days of free storage at the consolidation warehouse while your orders arrive, then $2 per CBM per day.
from $200
export agency & consolidation, per consolidated shipment file
14 days
free storage at the partner consolidation warehouse while your orders arrive
$2 / CBM / day
storage from day 15 onward
We export under our own licence — one exporter of record, one declaration and one set of documents covering every supplier in your shipment.
DDP
DDP: one total, confirmed per shipment
One number that covers the goods' journey, duties and taxes, delivered to your door. Duties and taxes depend on your product's HS code, your destination country and the declared value; on a DDP shipment we quote them as one fixed all-in figure per shipment, declared according to the signed Proforma. Only the Proforma is final.
Duties and taxes depend on your product's HS code, your destination country and the declared value. On a DDP shipment we quote them as one fixed all-in total on your Proforma — once you sign, that total is what you pay. The total is fixed on the product details, declared value, HS code and documents you provide; if those turn out to be incorrect or incomplete, a revised quote may be needed before shipment.
Compliance
All customs values are declared according to the signed Proforma and compliant shipping documents.
Only the Proforma is final. What you sign is what you pay.
Documents
Export documents checklist
Every shipment travels with a complete, consistent document set, each matching your signed Proforma: commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading or air waybill, the certificates your market requires, the export declaration filed under our own licence, and the insurance certificate when cover is arranged. Who issues each one is stated below.
| Document | What it is | Who produces it |
|---|---|---|
| Commercial invoice | The value document customs reads on both sides — product, quantities, prices, incoterm. | NovaLink, matching your signed Proforma |
| Packing list | Carton-level detail: contents, weights, dimensions, marks — what inspectors and warehouses work from. | NovaLink, from packing data checked at loading |
| Bill of Lading / Air Waybill | The transport document — a sea Bill of Lading (the negotiable title to the goods) or an Air Waybill — issued for your shipment as the carrier's receipt and contract of carriage. | Carrier; house document issued through our logistics partners |
| Certificates | Product compliance documents your market requires — the supplier's CE declaration and test reports where applicable — plus the certificate of origin. | Factory and issuing bodies — NovaLink coordinates and checks them |
| Customs paperwork | The export declaration and the customs entries on each side of the journey. | NovaLink under its own export licence; import side per your incoterm |
| Insurance certificate | Evidence of all-risk marine or air cargo cover for the shipment, issued when insurance is arranged. | Insurer — arranged by NovaLink |
Visibility
Written milestone updates — not a black box
You do not need a live map to know where your goods are. At each step that matters, booked, loaded, departed, in transit, cleared and delivered, you get a written, timestamped update on WhatsApp or by email, with the matching document: Proforma, packing list, bill of lading or air waybill, customs release. Every milestone is verifiable.
01 · Booked
Carrier space confirmed; your Proforma signed.
02 · Loaded
Goods packed and loaded; packing list issued.
03 · Departed
Vessel or flight left the gateway; B/L or AWB shared.
04 · In transit
On the water or in the air — ETA confirmed.
05 · Cleared
Customs cleared at destination (via partner).
06 · Delivered
Arrived at port or delivered to your door.
Updates are written, timestamped and tied to a document — so every milestone is verifiable. We don't offer real-time GPS tracking; we offer a written trail you can check.
FAQ
Logistics, answered
Freight at cost, every cost visible.
Sea, air, rail or express: request a logistics quote and see the carrier's freight at cost plus one visible handling line from $200 per shipment file, on one final Proforma. Send the cargo, the origin factory and the destination; you get a written answer within 24 hours on business days.
Talk to a human
Prefer to talk before you decide?
Two ways to reach NovaLink in China. Times are offered in your own timezone — no time-zone arithmetic, no back-and-forth.
Free introduction call
free · 15 minutes · video call
Bring your questions: your first import, finding or checking a supplier, shipping and landed cost. Nothing to prepare.
Book a free callImport Strategy Session
$99 · 60 minutes · credited within 90 days
One hour on your whole import plan, plus a written recap. Credited 100% toward any mission you sign within 90 days.
Book a Strategy SessionNovaLink takes calls 09:00–19:00 China time, Monday to Saturday. The booking page shows those hours converted to yours.